Bilingualism and Biculturalism in the Basque Country

Abstract

The Basque country is a small region in the southern Pyrenees, lying between northeast Spain and southwest France. Historically and culturally the term ‘Basque Country’ includes the Spanish Basque region, the French Basque region and the region of Navarra. In this paper, for political and administrative reasons, ‘Basque Country’ refers only to the three provinces in the southern Pyrenees, namely the Spanish Basque region. Euskara is the name of the Basque language and Euskadi is the name of the Basque Country. This paper looks at some of the issues concerning bilingualism and biculturalism in this region as they relate to education. Demographic and historical changes are analysed and the effects of establishing the minority language in the school education system are discussed. The contribution of research to this field is reviewed.